Long before the sound of vehicles broke the silence or the bustle of\ntourists filled the Cibodas road in Cianjur, West Java, the forest in\nthat area had its own symphony.<\/p>\n
In 1950, the colonial ornithological journal Limosa recorded the bird\nsounds that formed part of nature\u2019s orchestration amid the dense Cibodas\nforest. The notes described a bird whose presence was more often known\nfrom its call than from its body hidden among the thick trees.<\/p>\n
According to the journal, the bird was not a common sight throughout\nthe year. However, periodically, it could be observed daily in the\nprimary forest near and above \u2018Tjibodas\u2019, the name for Cibodas at that\ntime.<\/p>\n
Usually, this bird was found in groups consisting of several\nindividuals and often moved together with mixed bird flocks. Its habitat\nwas in the middle of dense forest, not too high above the ground.<\/p>\n
However, one thing made its presence easily recognisable: its\ncall.<\/p>\n
\u2018Usually in groups consisting of several individuals and accompanying\nmixed bird flocks. This bird is generally seen in the middle of dense\nforest and not too high above the ground, often attracting attention\nthrough a distinctive loud call that reveals their presence from afar,\u2019\nthe journal noted.<\/p>\n
The call was described as rough and hoarse, like a repeated \u2018ekkek\u2019.\nThere was also a sound like \u2018ekkek-keuling\u2019. It was from this last call\nthat the bird got its local name.<\/p>\n
The notes also recorded other calls, such as \u2018hie-tie-tjiet\u2019 repeated\nseveral times at a very loud pitch, as well as \u2018truut-truut-truut\u2019 or\n\u2018ruut-uut\u2019.<\/p>\n
To modern human ears, these sounds may seem like mere strings of\nwords that are hard to imagine. But for the forest of Mount Pangrango\nand the Tatar Pasundan region at that time, these sounds were part of a\nnatural symphony that was still intact.<\/p>\n
The bird in question is the Javan green magpie, also known as the\nJavan green magpie, with the scientific name Cissa thalassina.<\/p>\n
The colonial ornithological journal not only recorded the bird\u2019s\ncalls and habits but also noted its diet.<\/p>\n
The Javan green magpie was known to prey on grasshoppers, insects,\nlarge caterpillars, large cicadas, and beetles. The bird was even\ndescribed as very greedy because it could eat almost anything of animal\norigin as long as it could still swallow it.<\/p>\n
Its nest was usually located in primary forest or amid dense\nvegetation. It was not too high above the ground, around three to six\nmetres, and situated on a slender branch.<\/p>\n
The nest was quite sturdy and well formed, resembling a cup with a\ndiameter of about 15\u201317 centimetres and a height of 7\u20138 centimetres.<\/p>\n
The base and exterior were made of dry leaves, both tree leaves and\nrattan leaves or similar plants. The inside of the cup was lined with\nthin, dark-coloured plant material resembling fine roots, along with\nleaf stalks, stems, and other plant material.<\/p>\n
In a single clutch, there were only two eggs.<\/p>\n
\u2018The breeding season of this bird is in January, April, and\nDecember,\u2019 the notes stated.<\/p>\n
Long before the 1950 record was made, the archive of Natuurkundig\ntijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indie in 1886 had already mentioned the\nJavan green magpie as one of the most beautiful birds among Java\u2019s\navifauna.<\/p>\n
Its beauty lay in the combination of its feather colours.<\/p>\n
Its body feathers were a bright light green-blue, with a striking\ngreen band crossing the head, belly, and sides of the body. The small\nouter wing coverts were dull blue-green, while the larger ones were\nbright reddish brown.<\/p>\n
Almost all of its flight feathers \u2014 except the two innermost ones \u2014\nhad dull olive tips with greyish-yellow outer edges. The rest were\nreddish brown.<\/p>\n
The two innermost flight feathers had a different pattern. The\ninnermost feather was light green like the colour of the head, with a\ndull dark outer edge. The next feather had a colour like the other\nflight feathers, but was decorated with a broad light blue longitudinal\nstripe on the inner web.<\/p>\n
Its tail feathers were dull blue with black feather shafts.<\/p>\n
Then there was a feature that made the bird\u2019s face even more\ndistinctive: a broad black line that began near the corner of the mouth,\ncircled the eye and ear area, then gradually narrowed and extended to\nthe back of the neck. There, the line met the line from the opposite\nside.<\/p>\n
That is how the Javan green magpie was described in old records; a\nbeautiful bird, loud-voiced, living in dense forest, and part of the\nnatural life of Java\u2019s mountains.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tracing-the-symphony-of-the-ekkek-keuling-1787961092", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }